Memory Keeper
by Bloody Nikki
Summary: Part of the snow rose series. Set after Princess and the Peasant. Hurting from being unable to save Jack, Tessa Heat goes to Tooth to ask a favor. She is broken and in need of the one thing that will save her, Tooth.


Note: Set some time after Princess and the Peasant. This is how Tessa Heat tried to deal with her pain. I own nothing and it would be understood if you read the fic set before this.

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It was a great shock for Tooth to see the girl. Her eyes were swollen, bloodshot, and it seemed as if the girl had been tearing for weeks. Her hair was dirty as were her clothes. They were ripped and torn. There was blood running down the females arms and it seemed as if an animal had attacked her.

"Honey, what happened?" Tooth asked as she flew to the female that had come to see her.

"I need you to take them from me." The female chocked out. She was crying. "I don't want to remember."

"Remember what?" Tooth tried to smile.

"Him." The female answered as she started crying harder. "It hurts too much."

Tooth was shocked by the behavior being shown to her. This was not normal and it scared Tooth. Was Pitch attacking? Should she sound the alarm?

"I miss him so much." The girl chocked out. "Jack." The name came out so broken.

"This is about a boy." Tooth stated as if it were a joke.

"He is not a boy." The girl stated coldly. "He was my everything and I couldn't save him. I let him die. I am a cherub and I let the love of my life die." The girl looked horrified by this. She was shaking from the every thought of being alive and alone.

"You are a cherub?" Tooth asked. She had heard about them, but had only met one. The one see had met had been happy over joy. That cherub said that their kind didn't react well to losing a lover through death. It made them mad. Tooth wondered why this cherub would come to her for help.

"Yes..." The girl stated. "My name is... was Tessa Heat... but everyone just calls me Heat..."

"Your name was Tessa?" Tooth asked. She wasn't sure what to say to make things better.

"I don't like anyone calling me that. I don't like hearing anyone say it. It makes me think of him. I hear my name and think I hear him calling to me. Jack? Jack? I hear you. I hear you... But when I turn to see him... he isn't there... someone else was always there... never him... because I let him die... I killed him..." Tessa stated as she lost herself to her thoughts. Tooth looked the girl over once more. The girls arms were covered with claw marks and her nails had blood under them. Had the girl been hurting herself?

"You miss him a lot." Tooth whispered.

"Greatly." Tessa agreed with a smile. "I see him everywhere and nowhere. I close my eyes and see his. I can hear his laughter all around me. He was always laughing, always smiling, always living." Tessa ran a hand through her hair and ripped some of it out. "I shouldn't be here." Tessa yelled out.

"We could take you wherever you need to go." Tooth reasoned. She didn't want the girl to hurt herself anymore.

"I should be dead with him." Tessa hissed out. "But I can't do that." Tessa sighed out. "I would be selfish. Too many people would be hurt by my actions."

"Oh?" Tooth thought about what the girl was saying.

"I am all daddy has left. If I were to go, he wouldn't be able to make the toys. I can't take Santa from the world... but I can't be a part of a world... not like this... I'm as good as a ghost..."

"Is that why you came here?" Tooth asked.

"Yes," Tessa answered softly. "You are my only hope... my guardian... my savior... you can save me from myself... you can keep his ghost a way. He haunts me. He haunts my every thought, dream, sense. He taunts me. He called to me. I can't hurt my daddy, the children... I can't... but like this..." Tessa was talking about her state of mind, the way her body looked, and her behavior.

"It is as good as hurting them." Tooth finished. She understood why the girl came to her. Tooth wasn't sure if she could do what was being asked of her.

"Yes... you understand... you know... please... don't turn me a way... " Tessa begged. "I can't last... not another... night... dream...no... nightmare... I have only nightmares that fool me into believing they are dreams." Tooth was sure that the girl was losing her mind. Sandy would never give anyone nightmares. "I dream Jack is alive and with me and open my eyes and know it's a lie. All a lie. It hurts me more...pain...it hurts..."

"You want me to take him a way?" Tooth asked. She was scared to listen to anymore. It was breaking her heart.

"For a time..." Tessa said trying to say what she meant. "I don't know who I am without him and I can't find out being haunted by him... I need to just... be nothing... for a while... nothing...sounds nice ha."

"You want me to remove them until you can deal with it?" Tooth asked.

"Yes... and slowly... when I'm ready... I want to... regain the memories back... slowly... little...and little..." Tessa looked up towards Tooth. "Is that possible?"

"Yes," Tooth said nodding her head. She gave a weak smile. "I can do that for you." Tooth took the girl in her arms. "Everything will be better." Tessa seemed to believe this for she smiled brightly. "I promise."

"You feel like my mother." Tessa whispered. "She was like you." The girl sounded sleepy. It seemed the good news helped relax the cherub. Tooth sighed out. There was no way she was going to tell North what she was going to do nor that his child had come to her.

Tooth called her fairies over. They had to act fast before the girl woke up. They would clean her up, give her a new dress, and take away the memories of the boy who haunted her thoughts... even if it felt wrong...


End file.
